You know ... orig·i·nal
• Pronunciation: &-'rij-&-n&l, -'rij-n&l• Noun• Date: 14th century• Meaning:
1. a : the source or cause from which something arises; specifically : ORIGINATOR
2. a : that from which a copy, reproduction, or translation is made b : a work composed firsthand
3. a : a person of fresh initiative or inventive capacity b : a unique or eccentric person

Yes, I have always prided myself on the simple fact that the things I create look and feel different from anything remotely influential.

When I introduced this incarnation of sweetaspirations.com on May 12, 2000, very few websites were monochromatic and even fewer were using the graphic techniques that still are employed herein.

Of course, I know that one pixel width lines ... dots ... collaged photos ... squares ... blends ... fades ... etc., are not unique to my site. But the method, the "feel", the composition ... are original.

In an effort to maintain continuity but at the same time make a distinct color differentiation, I created designaspirations.com (my design/professional site) with the same monochromatic look using the same techniques. I introduced the new look and feel of designaspirations.com on May 17, 2000.

I remember the volumes of congratulatory email I received on the new look & feel of both sites. The one phrase that was threaded through most of the email: "it is so original looking". I remember feeling proud that I had produced a unique looking presentation using basic lines, squares, and blends.

Alas, here these presentations are ... just a few weeks short of their third anniversary and they are still being ... um, er ... "replicated".

Awhile back, one architectural firm in the Middle East took sweetaspirations.com in its entirety and used it to promote their services. The saddest part was that the buttons (that they created to replace but replicate my original images) were so poorly rendered.

Then there was the time that a school teacher took sweetaspirations.com and colorized the original images bright red. And when I confronted her obvious breach of copyright, she accused me of being unfair.

I still receive no less than one or two emails a month from people alerting me to various sites that have reproduced sweetaspirations.com or designaspirations.com in one form or another.

Many have used the exact images and changed only the copy (text).

Others have been more subtle. They use bits and pieces. However, visitors to their sites recognize it as a "take off" on that aspirations lady's site.

[[Yes, I know you are out there, Miz Nursey. I have seen it. I have laughed. And yes, I have pitied you.]]